Blink’s new Moments tool merges camera images into one video
Smart home security brand Blink is introducing a new feature called Moments, which automatically combines clips from multiple cameras into one stream.
According to the companytheir “customers have an average of three cameras per household”, recording hundreds of hours of footage. You can imagine that sorting through all that footage can be very time-consuming. That’s why Moments tries to take away all the busy work by summarizing everything.
Flashing indicates the function “works with all current and previous generations of (their) battery-powered and plug-in devices.” The images it collects can be downloaded to a smartphone and then shared with others via the Blink app. Each video has a timeline consisting of multiple thumbnail images and a linked time frame. The company states that the thumbnails indicate where each clip begins.
To view a Moment, you must first tap the Clips tab in the bottom navigation bar. Then select the video you want to watch in the Clip list. The video player has its own bar that you can scroll through if you want to see a specific point. Pressing and holding a section opens a Moment Details window where you can view information about a clip. It contains information about which camera was used and the type of event seen.
Limits
There are a number of criteria that users must meet before they can use Moments. They need an active one Blink subscription Plus subscription that’s $10 USD/$15 CAD/£8 per month. In order for the app to collect the footage automatically, you must have at least two cameras on your home system. Additionally, TheVerge has been able to confirm that you don’t need a Sync Module hub.
Users must also have two or more recorded “videos or saved live views” available. In addition, a piece of camera footage must have been recorded ‘within 45 seconds after the start time of the last recorded fragment’. They can’t sit too far apart. Moments are enabled by default, although they can be disabled at any time in the Clip list.
It is possible to discard specific parts of a video. Blink says that if you go to the Edit section of the Clip List, you can delete any of the recordings. However, they do not recommend this.
Removing a piece can disrupt the structure of a Moment. “To keep the structure intact,” the company suggests, ensuring at least two clips “start within 45 seconds of each other.”
The update is slowly rolling out to all eligible customers and you’ll need the latest version of the Blink smartphone app to use it. After installation, an introductory guide will teach you how to use Moments. Please note that the feature is in beta and may not work as well as intended.
Check out Ny Breaking’s list of the best home security cameras for 2024.